Toy glider

ABSTRACT

A toy glider having a fuselage and two wings. The fuselage has a longitudinal channel which is open at the forward end of the fuselage, and an elongated ballast element slidably arranged in the channel and frictionally held in it in any one of a plurality of positions.

I United States Patent [151 3,680,253 Spencer [4 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] TOY GLIDER 1,818,426 8/1931 Norcross ..46/79 2 Inventor: Robert F Spencer, 473 30 S N 3,576,086 4/1971 Halsey ..46/79 W., Washington, DC. 20008 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene [22] Flled' 1971 Assistant ExaminerD. L. Weinhold [21] Appl. No.: 174,339 Attorney-George H. Spencer and Harvey Kaye 521 US. Cl ..46/79 [571 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. ..A63h 27/00 A toy glider having a fuselage and two wings The [58] Fleld of Search ..46/74, 79, 76, 80, 81 fuselage has a longitudinal channel which is Open at the forward end of the fuselage, and an elongated bal- [56] Relerences cued last element slidably arranged in the channel and fric- UNITED STATES PATENTS tionally held in it in any one of a plurality of positions.

2,739,414 3/1956 Cleveland ..46/79 X 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENTEBAuc I I972 3.680.253

INVENTOR ROBERT E SPENCER TOY GLIDER The present invention relates to a toy glider.

There exist various toy gliders, many of which have the problem of how to adjust the proper fore-and-aft balance. To do this, the child playing with the glider may bend various tabs in the wing, but even after preliminary balance is achieved, the tabs do not retain their position so that the glider is, sooner or later, no longer in balance.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a glider which overcomes the above drawback, and, with this object in view, the present inadjustable balance element which is capable of being moved forward or backwards within a longitudinal channel that is provided in the fuselage. The balance element is, in practice, a simple ballast stick, and the glider itself is made of paper, so that the toy as a whole is inexpensive indeed.

The invention will best be understood in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the toy glider.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the toy glider.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the toy glider.

Referring now to the drawing, the same shows a toy glider having a fuselage l and two wings 20 and 30, all made of a single piece of relatively stiff paper which is folded symmetrically along the longitudinal center line of the glider. The fuselage is constituted by two generally vertical, opposite panels 12 and 14 which are slightly bowed away from each other to form a longitudinal channel 16 which is open at both ends, although for purposes of the present invention the fact that the channel is open at the forward end is of greater significance. Slidably arranged in the channel and frictionally held therein in any one of a plurality of selectable positions is an elongated balance or ballast element 40 which may, in practice, be constituted by a simple wooden stick of round cross section. The frictional engagement between the stick and the side panels 12 and 14 of the fuselage is maintained by pieces of tape 18, such as gummed or adhesive tape, which extend across the upper edge of the fuselage and which hold together the two panel sections constituting the wings 20, 30.

In the illustrated embodiment, the wings 20, 30, carry, at their outer ends, rudders 22 and 32, respectively.

Before flight, the stick 40 is inserted into the channel in such a position that the stick extends a short way out I of the forward end of the channel. A test flight is then made, and if the glider is found to be nose-heavy or tailheavy, the stick 40 is either pushed back further into the channel of the fuselage or it is pulled out somewhat further, whereupon a new test flight is made, so that, by trial and error, a suitable position for the stick is the glider up to the light and to fix the position of the vention resides in the provision of a glider which has an sti kwit res ct to the indici The glider l ias a great sat ety feature, in that if it strikes any object, the nose, constituting the forward, exposed end of the ballast stick, will readily slide back into the channel, thus preventing damage to the article being struck by the glider, or injury to the person who happens to be in the flight path of the glider. If, of course, the stick is pushed back as the result of an impact, it is a simple matter to relocate the stick in the previously established proper balance position, by referring to the indicia means 50.

If desired, the fuselage can be provided with a notch 19, which allows the glider to be launched'by a rubber band.

Various modifications will readily be apparent to persons skilled in the art, and they are intended to be comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A toy glider comprising a fuselage and two wings, said fuselage having a longitudinal channel which is open at the forward end of the fuselage, and an elongated ballast element slidably arranged in said channel and being frictionally held in any one of a plurality of positions.

2. A toy glider as defined in claim 1, further comprising indicia means arranged along the length of said channel for enabling said ballast element to be placed into predetermined positions within said channel.

3. A toy glider as defined in claim 2, wherein said fuselage and said wings consist of a single piece of paper which is folded symmetrically along the longitudinal centerline of the glider with said fuselage being constituted by two generally vertical, opposite panels which are slightly bowed away from each other to form said channel and with said wings being constituted .by two further panels which lie in a common horizontal plane intersecting the upper edge of said fuselage, and wherein said two further panels constituting said wings are held together by tape extending across said fuselage. 

1. A toy glider comprising a fuselage and two wings, said fuselage having a longitudinal channel which is open at the forward end of the fuselage, and an elongated ballast element slidably arranged in said channel and being frictionally held in any one of a plurality of positions.
 2. A toy glider as defined in claim 1, further comprising indicia means arranged along the length of said channel for enabling said ballast element to be placed into predetermined positions within said channel.
 3. A toy glider as defined in claim 2, wherein said fuselage and said wings consist of a single piece of paper which is folded symmetrically along the longitudinal centerline of the glider with said fuselage being constituted by two generally vertical, opposite panels which are slightly bowed away from each other to form said channel and with said wings being constituted by two further panels which lie in a common horizontal plane intersecting the upper edge of said fuselage, and wherein said two further panels constituting said wings are held together by tape extending across said fuselage. 